(SDBA- Pierre, SD) A one-vote margin today (Thursday) pushed forward significant changes to South Dakota’s drug laws, spotlighting divisions over how to manage addiction and overcrowding in state prisons.
The Senate’s 18-17 vote advances a measure reducing penalties for drug ingestion while expanding treatment — a shift that drew both praise as forward-thinking and criticism as soft on crime.
“The current system is not only expensive, but it is destroying families. It is creating poverty,” said Sen. Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule. “There’s nothing at the front end to address addiction and to prevent further harms.”
Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, disagreed with Senate Bill 83’s approach.
“A misdemeanor isn’t even a blip on the radar of a fentanyl-addicted offender,” Duhamel countered.
Sen. Kevin Jensen, R-Canton, whose wife works in the addiction field, said he was conflicted but would vote against the bill.
“Many times, it’s a plea from a more serious crime that still puts them in the penitentiary,” Jensen said. “Almost always another more serious crime.”
Senate Bill 83 would make first offenses a misdemeanor with mandatory treatment while keeping felony penalties for third strikes within 10 years.
“For far too long, I think we’ve looked at addiction as a moral failing,” said Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls. “Wouldn’t we want to treat people that have an illness rather than incarcerate our way out of that problem?”
The change could affect hundreds — currently, 279 people sit in South Dakota prisons on ingestion charges at $92 daily per inmate, according to the Department of Corrections.
The measure faces House debate next.
